


Pasta Bake & Blankets

by glim



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 12:51:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11380563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim
Summary: Arthur knows all he has to do is ask, or give Merlin some sort of sign, and Merlin will fuss over him, bring him tea and medicine and take his temperature. It's not so much that Arthur doesn't want the fussing, it's that he doesn't want to do the asking, that he's still not quite sure how to do the asking.





	Pasta Bake & Blankets

**Author's Note:**

> For silenceindminor who requested hurt/comfort for the prompt "Can I at least have a blanket?"

With a sigh that he does his best to restrain, Arthur puts his suitcase down in front of the lift and prepares to wait. He knows he's going to be stuck here at least five minutes, and there will probably be at least a half-dozen other people in the lift, and that it will take him at least another five minutes to get to Merlin's flat. 

Usually, he'll take the stairs, even if he has his overnight bag or suitcase with him, finding it easier and faster to get to the fourth floor that way. This evening, however, he'd tired and cold and doesn't want to think about climbing that many sets of stairs with his suitcase and the burgeoning headache in his sinuses. 

He just wants to get home, and Merlin's flat is more home than anywhere else these days, despite Merlin insisting on living somewhere with the worst elevator service known to humankind. 

So, Arthur waits for the lift, leans against the wall when he joins the handful of people already in there, and endures the ride between floors before the lift actually decides to stop at Merlin's floor. 

Merlin's on the phone when Arthur gets in and dinner's half-finished; he looks at Arthur, surprised, then curious, and mouths 'you're early' before leaning in to give Arthur a quick, one-armed hug. 

Arthur shrugs, but leans into hug. He's been traveling most of the day and he's pretty sure he lost of the concepts of 'late' and 'early' somewhere around the third Underground delay late that afternoon. 

"I'm going to change," he says, then tousles Merlin's hair after he slides out of the hug in which Merlin tries to trap him. 

By the time Arthur's exchanged his suit and tie for a pair of track pants and tee shirt and has decided against taking a nurofen for the moment, Merlin's put his mobile aside and is peering into the oven. 

"It's just pasta bake," he says when Arthur joins him in the kitchen. "And salad, if you want..." 

"I didn't know you knew how to do pasta bake." Arthur practically wraps himself up around Merlin as soon as Merlin stands, burying his face in the back of Merlin's shoulder. "Did the Internet teach you?"

"I can actually hear the capitalization in your voice when you say that." Merlin lets Arthur nestle in closer to him, then, when he eases up on the hug slightly, he turns in Arthur's arms. "You look tired." 

"Probably, yeah," Arthur admits. He feels beyond tired, and a weary exhaustion edges along the headache that he can definitely feel now that he's home, and the dull, sore throat that he's been ignoring longer than the headache. 

"You sound tired, too. And a bit... Well." Merlin reaches up to stroke Arthur's hair; while he does so, he gives Arthur a careful, close look, and leans in to press a kiss to his forehead. "You look like you're coming down with something..." 

He's been away on a work trip for five days, and hasn't seen Merlin in over a week, so even though Arthur's first response is to move away and deny that he's not feeling well, he quashes it. 

"You don't need to fret over me." 

"I won't fuss if you don't want me to," Merlin says. He strokes Arthur's hair again and smiles when Arthur goes a bit bashful on him and shakes his head. "Alright, then, go rest on the sofa and I'll bring dinner out soonish." 

Arthur knows all he has to do is ask, or give Merlin some sort of sign, and Merlin will fuss over him, bring him tea and medicine and take his temperature. It's not so much that Arthur doesn't want the fussing, it's that he doesn't want to do the asking, that he's still not quite sure _how_ to do the asking. So, he nods and leans into the hug Merlin offers and lingers in Merlin's warm, small kitchen for a few more minutes until Merlin tells him he looks too tired to be standing around like that. 

Merlin's frustratingly right, and Arthur drops down onto the sofa with a groan of exhaustion. The groan makes him cough, and the cough sends a throb through his head where the sinus headache plagues him. He sighs and rubs his forehead. At least he's home, and Merlin's done something hot for dinner, and in a couple hours he can fall asleep next to Merlin and forget about things like work, the report he owes his father, the suitcase full of dry cleaning that he'll need to take care of sooner rather than later. 

"Do you need anything?" Merlin touches his shoulder and squeezes it affectionately when Arthur blinks up at him. "Or want anything? Before you fall asleep here on the sofa..."

"Can I at least have a blanket?" Arthur rubs at his forehead again and blinks at Merlin. "Oh. It's dinner time?"

Merlin nods. "I'll bring you something for the headache, alright? And, yeah, we can eat now, and put something on the telly." 

Arthur makes a vague sound of agreement and attempts to blink himself awake and not let himself doze off again. Fuzzily half awake, he accepts painkillers and a glass of water from Merlin, then shakes himself more awake after Merlin tosses a blanket onto the sofa and returns with dinner for them both. 

"Are you glad to be home?" Merlin snuggles them both together under the blanket, then brings bowls of pasta into their laps. He kisses Arthur on the cheek and does the stupid, adorable thing where he just watches Arthur for a few seconds, waiting for him to reply. 

"I am. I--" The sudden urge to tell Merlin exactly how very happy he is to be home, to be in Merlin's home, comes over Arthur, and suddenly it feels like too much. His throat goes a bit tight, and he gives a little shiver when Merlin leans in to kiss him again. "I... I missed you." 

"I missed you, too." Merlin curls himself in by Arthur and they sit that way, quietly, for a while before they eat and watch tv, the warmth between them unspoken, but comfortable and close.


End file.
